Fixed Yet?
09-19-13 | 04:56 PM
#101
十人十色
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,984
Likes: 27
From: Tokyo, Japan
I can't help it… I don't like the term fixie and, like the OP, think it sounds infantile. I also associate it with all the 'Make a perfect fixie' ad-spamming on eBay. I like fixed gear machines from the 30s to 50s.
[IMG]
IMG_5261 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Or even from 2009 - the legal heat (which some might remember) has faded and I've reconverted it back to fixed from automatic 2-speed Torpedo coaster brake:
[IMG]
IMG_3027 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Someone mentioned how fixed gear riders can spin… I went for a ride on the Chesini with a bunch of lads in their 20s a few Saturdays ago, lots on 54/16 ratios, and they left me standing. I started out in the first 5 and when the other 10 or so passed me it really was like being overtaken by motorcycles.
Oh, and this is my next fixed gear - I just have another couple of things to do on my latest road machine and then the work will begin:
[IMG]
Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
IMG_5261 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]Or even from 2009 - the legal heat (which some might remember) has faded and I've reconverted it back to fixed from automatic 2-speed Torpedo coaster brake:
[IMG]
IMG_3027 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]Someone mentioned how fixed gear riders can spin… I went for a ride on the Chesini with a bunch of lads in their 20s a few Saturdays ago, lots on 54/16 ratios, and they left me standing. I started out in the first 5 and when the other 10 or so passed me it really was like being overtaken by motorcycles.
Oh, and this is my next fixed gear - I just have another couple of things to do on my latest road machine and then the work will begin:
[IMG]
Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
09-19-13 | 05:04 PM
#102
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,861
Likes: 5,394
From: NW Burbs, Chicago
09-19-13 | 05:04 PM
#103
十人十色
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,984
Likes: 27
From: Tokyo, Japan
Lovely machine uniquely modified.
With all due respect "conversions are lame and dangerous!" is twaddle. A properly installed & torqued rear wheel is not going anywhere, as it were.
Some converters are lame & dangerous since they lack proper mechanical skills, hacks are hacks. When the "fixie" thing disappears club riders & fixed gear enthusiasts can get on with wrenching & riding as they have for the last bunch of decades, quietly.
-Bandera
With all due respect "conversions are lame and dangerous!" is twaddle. A properly installed & torqued rear wheel is not going anywhere, as it were.
Some converters are lame & dangerous since they lack proper mechanical skills, hacks are hacks. When the "fixie" thing disappears club riders & fixed gear enthusiasts can get on with wrenching & riding as they have for the last bunch of decades, quietly.
-Bandera
09-19-13 | 05:16 PM
#106
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 5,929
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From: TX Hill Country
09-19-13 | 05:48 PM
#107
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 40,863
Likes: 3,115
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
A few years ago, I was fixated (get it?) on the idea of finding an English grass track race bike. It seemed like a cool, but obscure niche bike. Now, with the popularity of SSCX, you can find a lot of modern frames that have the same functionality. See my On-One, for example. Still, they don't have the same STYLE as a Carlton path racer.
09-19-13 | 05:49 PM
#108
十人十色
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,984
Likes: 27
From: Tokyo, Japan
Yes, mudguards. You use special square headed bolts that fit into the holes and are secured with little butterfly nuts. They're quite common on 50s English frames. I'll take a picture of some and post it later.
09-19-13 | 06:14 PM
#109
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
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From: TX Hill Country
The British never fail to amaze me cycling wise.
That has to be much more pleasant than the cyclo-cross muddy/shoe-losing/suffer fests we used to "enjoy".
And what pray tell defines a cutting edge Grass-Track-Racer: Peter Rabbit guards, grass gearing & turf clearance?
Any pics anyone?
-Bandera
(This has to be a Slag.....)
Last edited by Bandera; 09-19-13 at 06:24 PM.
09-19-13 | 06:30 PM
#110
十人十色
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,984
Likes: 27
From: Tokyo, Japan
[IMG]
Bates Volante Grass racer 1951 by Mark`Stevens ModelCrafter, on Flickr[/IMG]
09-19-13 | 06:45 PM
#111
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
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From: TX Hill Country
Lovely grass track machine that.
I'm suitably mortified, amazed and amused.
Grass track racing w/ dedicated FG machines: Good on you Blighty!
I need a stiff drink, and I'm sure about that.
-Bandera
09-19-13 | 06:47 PM
#112
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 27,266
Likes: 152
From: YEG
Bikes: See my sig...
Couldn't agree more, Sixty-Fiver. My 1953 Claud Butler Silver Jubilee was built that way, it's not a conversion. I bought it off the original owner and the only non-original part was the tyres. I have changed the brake levers as another member really needed a pair of GB's, bar tape and removed the clunky old lights. Rims are Conloy Constrictors on Solite hubs. The rims have convex curved side walls, so the rim brakes aren't too bright - good thing I've got that fixed wheel at the back! Here are some really bad photos.
The rear hub is fixed/fixed, not a 'flippy floppy' or whatever kids call a double threaded hub these days. One cog is 1/8" and the other 3/32" - go figure! The original Brooks saddle has a terminal split in the leather at the front of the cantle plate rivet on the right - shame, so I'm hoping some day to find an aged Swallow by Brooks or Lycett to replace it. Yes, I DO have a Carradice Nelson canvas saddle bag AND a pair of wheel carriers I could put on it - and I'm about to build up a pair of tubular rims on high flange track hubs that I COULD carry around all day!
The rear hub is fixed/fixed, not a 'flippy floppy' or whatever kids call a double threaded hub these days. One cog is 1/8" and the other 3/32" - go figure! The original Brooks saddle has a terminal split in the leather at the front of the cantle plate rivet on the right - shame, so I'm hoping some day to find an aged Swallow by Brooks or Lycett to replace it. Yes, I DO have a Carradice Nelson canvas saddle bag AND a pair of wheel carriers I could put on it - and I'm about to build up a pair of tubular rims on high flange track hubs that I COULD carry around all day!
Back to the shed with you... the bike demands better than this.
09-19-13 | 08:30 PM
#113
Get off my lawn!
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 6,035
Likes: 119
From: The Garden State
Bikes: 1917 Loomis, 1923 Rudge, 1930 Hercules Renown, 1947 Mclean, 1948 JA Holland, 1955 Hetchins, 1957 Carlton Flyer, 1962 Raleigh Sport, 1978&81 Raleigh Gomp GS', 2010 Raliegh Clubman
Morris? Early 40's or post war? The stem is great! Did you have the restoration done on the frame or did you acquire it as such? Ah, ya see, a bike boom conversion will never...ever...in a million years have the appeal of a proper fixed gear purpose built frame....which reminds me, I have a Mclean that I hung a IGH on, I should fix it.
09-19-13 | 08:48 PM
#114
boattail71
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 193
Likes: 0
From: Colorado
Bikes: Too many to list. Raleigh carbon racer (17 lbs.) and fast to a '37 Columbia (17 lbs. wheels alone) Even an Aerocycle (not ridable yet), love the middleweights too.
Morris? Early 40's or post war? The stem is great! Did you have the restoration done on the frame or did you acquire it as such? Ah, ya see, a bike boom conversion will never...ever...in a million years have the appeal of a proper fixed gear purpose built frame....which reminds me, I have a Mclean that I hung a IGH on, I should fix it.
09-19-13 | 10:00 PM
#115
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 27,266
Likes: 152
From: YEG
Bikes: See my sig...
I really have no problem with running a road bike with a fixed wheelset... you get better geometry for the road and get to enjoy riding fixed.
It was done like this for decades where your racing bike got fixed for winter riding and spring training and then the gears went back on when the legs were ready... it saved what were some pretty expensive components from being prematurely ruined.
It was done like this for decades where your racing bike got fixed for winter riding and spring training and then the gears went back on when the legs were ready... it saved what were some pretty expensive components from being prematurely ruined.
09-19-13 | 10:27 PM
#116
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 40,863
Likes: 3,115
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
I really have no problem with running a road bike with a fixed wheelset... you get better geometry for the road and get to enjoy riding fixed.
It was done like this for decades where your racing bike got fixed for winter riding and spring training and then the gears went back on when the legs were ready... it saved what were some pretty expensive components from being prematurely ruined.
It was done like this for decades where your racing bike got fixed for winter riding and spring training and then the gears went back on when the legs were ready... it saved what were some pretty expensive components from being prematurely ruined.
09-19-13 | 10:40 PM
#117
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 27,266
Likes: 152
From: YEG
Bikes: See my sig...
I am going to be building up some retro styled road frames with track ends for a fixed, SS, or IGH set up... am looking at relaxed angles, accommodation for much wider tyres, and provisions for creature comforts like water bottle cages, brakes, fenders, and racks.
Would be modelling these after some late 30's Raleigh bicycles I have seen that were filet brazed, probably done so to preserve materials during wartime.
I also have another '51 CCM coming to me from a friend and will probably add some bottle cage mounts and improve the track ends before it gets re-painted and built up.
Would be modelling these after some late 30's Raleigh bicycles I have seen that were filet brazed, probably done so to preserve materials during wartime.
I also have another '51 CCM coming to me from a friend and will probably add some bottle cage mounts and improve the track ends before it gets re-painted and built up.
09-19-13 | 11:37 PM
#118
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,475
Likes: 655
From: Joisey
I Heart Fixies
Mmmmm, fixies..... I try not to get too hung up on words, they're just the finger pointing at the moon, and all that. Some stranger yelling: "Yo, fixie!" at me brings a smile.
Purpose-built, neo-retro 2008 Waterford with stainless Sachs Newvex head lugs and sparkly purple paint:
Fixed/650b converted '80ish Peter Mooney, with vertical drops and Philcentric eccentric bb:
'95 Riv Road fixed conversion:
Purpose-built, neo-retro 2008 Waterford with stainless Sachs Newvex head lugs and sparkly purple paint:
Fixed/650b converted '80ish Peter Mooney, with vertical drops and Philcentric eccentric bb:
'95 Riv Road fixed conversion:
09-20-13 | 01:06 AM
#120
十人十色
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,984
Likes: 27
From: Tokyo, Japan
Morris? Early 40's or post war? The stem is great! Did you have the restoration done on the frame or did you acquire it as such? Ah, ya see, a bike boom conversion will never...ever...in a million years have the appeal of a proper fixed gear purpose built frame....which reminds me, I have a Mclean that I hung a IGH on, I should fix it.
A Maclean? Very nice!
09-20-13 | 04:56 AM
#121
Get off my lawn!
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 6,035
Likes: 119
From: The Garden State
Bikes: 1917 Loomis, 1923 Rudge, 1930 Hercules Renown, 1947 Mclean, 1948 JA Holland, 1955 Hetchins, 1957 Carlton Flyer, 1962 Raleigh Sport, 1978&81 Raleigh Gomp GS', 2010 Raliegh Clubman
Yes, a Featherweight, picked it up from Hilary a year or so ago, mostly for the Resilion Canti's and the Chater Lea headclip. I had an idea of building a hybrid IGH/RD gearing system for it. Since then, I've fallen in love with the geometry but not so much with the gearing system. It may get "fixed" with a 590 wheelset. Bandera, here's your "wobbly" Brit bike you asked for......tatty might be the better word.
pcb- Your (not anymore
) MKM is beautiful!
pcb- Your (not anymore
) MKM is beautiful!
Last edited by Velognome; 09-20-13 at 05:00 AM.
09-20-13 | 06:10 AM
#123
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 5,929
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From: TX Hill Country
I drilled the fork on my Zeus track bike for a brake and used it for winter training one year. It rode like a lumber wagon, was nervous on down-hills and destroyed a light rear rim. Horses for courses indeed.
-Bandera
09-20-13 | 06:16 AM
#124
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
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From: TX Hill Country
I may have to review the requirements plan for a bespoke Rando-ish frame I'm doing.
-Bandera
09-20-13 | 06:23 AM
#125
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2013
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From: TX Hill Country
It just has character, lovely actually.
Never to discourage a FG set-up on such a proper frameset but my town bike has an AW/3 cog cyclo set-up that is near ideal for it's purpose. I'm sure you have another candidate for that kind of IGH set-up.
Excuse the non-FG pic, it's actually raining so mudguards have been fitted on the International.
-Bandera
Never to discourage a FG set-up on such a proper frameset but my town bike has an AW/3 cog cyclo set-up that is near ideal for it's purpose. I'm sure you have another candidate for that kind of IGH set-up.
Excuse the non-FG pic, it's actually raining so mudguards have been fitted on the International.
-Bandera
Last edited by Bandera; 09-20-13 at 06:42 AM.